Selected Essays


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.7 stars; 7 reviews)

Voltairine de Cleyre (1866–1912) was, according to Emma Goldman, "the most gifted and brilliant anarchist woman America ever produced." Today she is not widely known as a consequence of her short life. De Cleyre was especially influenced by Thomas Paine, Mary Wollstonecraft and Clarence Darrow. After the hanging of the Haymarket protesters in 1887, she became an anarchist. "Till then I believed in the essential justice of the American law of trial by jury," she wrote in an autobiographical essay, "After that I never could." She was known as an excellent speaker and writer – in the opinion of biographer Paul Avrich, she was "a greater literary talent than any other American anarchist" – and as a tireless advocate for the anarchist cause, whose "religious zeal," according to Goldman, "stamped everything she did." (Wikipedia) (12 hr 27 min)

Chapters

The Dominant Idea 41:52 Read by Rhonda Federman
Anarchism 50:04 Read by Rhonda Federman
Anarchism and American Traditions 40:59 Read by Rhonda Federman
Anarchism in Literature 41:22 Read by Rhonda Federman
The Making of an Anarchist 20:29 Read by Philippa
The 11th November 1887 19:27 Read by Rhonda Federman
Crime and Punishment, part 1 33:51 Read by Carl Manchester
Crime and Punishment, part 2 34:54 Read by Carl Manchester
In Defense of Emma Goldman 31:22 Read by lukkystarr
Direct Action 49:26 Read by lukkystarr
The Paris Commune 20:49 Read by Carl Manchester
The Mexican Revolution 38:32 Read by Sibella Denton
Thomas Paine 17:24 Read by harsh365
Dyer D. Lum 27:46 Read by Heather Hogan
Francisco Ferrer 42:16 Read by Sibella Denton
Modern Educational Reform 40:15 Read by Philippa
Sex Slavery 31:09 Read by Kalynda
Literature the Mirror of Man 39:46 Read by RevRal
The Drama of the Nineteenth Century, part 1 21:59 Read by Sibella Denton
The Drama of the Nineteenth Century, part 2 25:54 Read by Sibella Denton
They Who Marry Do Ill 35:26 Read by Rhonda Federman
The Economic Tendency of Freethought 42:10 Read by lukkystarr

Reviews

A brilliant writer of whom I had not previously been aware.


(5 stars)

Thank you Librivox for presenting wonderful works read by lovely, international, volunteer readers! Misses Voltairine had presently escaped my awareness, so I thank this fine website for providing me not only of this knowledge but her brilliant work to be instantly available and free of cost! Oh, as an older man I often believe that since Reagan (more like Nixon!) life has become gradually and ceaselessly worse and devoid of joy, opportunity, and rationality. However, Librivox has been a wonderful treat and a gift of hope that humanity and truth will out! Thanks so very much, Librivox! I will shout your virtues from the tallest rooftops!